The knock on Greed coming into camp was that he was not a tackler.
In this exclusive interview, Greedy Williams discusses the nerve damage in his shoulder, the charges he was faking it, and how he plans to come back better than ever in 2021.
www.cleveland.com
How it happened
“We were doing this tackling drill,’' Williams said. “It’s supposed to be receivers running towards the sideline and we just wrap them up like formal tackling or whatever. It got out of hand and guys just started hitting like crazy with all of their force. I went and tried to hit a guy with all my force and he ducked his head into my shoulder and ran through my shoulder.’'
He felt a searing sting in the right shoulder and then his whole arm went numb, like someone flipped off the switch.
“I had never felt anything like it before,’' he said. “I couldn’t move it, so that’s why if you see on the video I was carrying it [close to his body] because I couldn’t feel my arm.’'
By the time he got into the training room, some of the feeling had returned, but the shoulder was still sore. The Browns described his injury as “day-to-day’' and believed he’d be on the field soon, gearing up to take a big leap in his second year opposite Denzel Ward. But day-to-day soon turned into “week-to-week,’' and Williams’ condition was shrouded in mystery.
“After like three or four days, it was still kind of numb and sore, so we waited for like a week or two weeks and it was still the same way,’' Williams said.
Depression hits
The doubts and the depression crept in almost immediately, and Williams struggled to keep his head up. He had overcome a demoralizing draft day slide into the second round, and missed the first four games of his rookie year with a pulled hamstring. He was eager to return in 2020 and show the NFL world what he could do.
“I never missed a game in college,’' Williams said. “I came back and I was like ‘OK, I’m ready to go. I got my feet wet, it’s my time.’’'
Every couple of weeks, Williams underwent an electromyography test in which fine needles were inserted into the shoulder to get the muscle to fire.
Each week, nothing.
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Reality sets in
As the season slipped away and Terrance Mitchell held down the fort in his spot, Williams came to grips with the fact he might not play at all in 2020. Finally, on Oct. 12, the Browns placed him on injured reserve and acknowledged that his season could be over. By that time, Williams knew that he had suffered severe damage to the axillary nerve in his shoulder, which impacts the deltoid muscle among others. He was told it was at least a 6-12-month injury.
“The trainers, the coaches, the players, everybody was involved, texting me like, ‘We know you’re going to shake back from it, just keep your head up, just keep going,’’' Williams said. “Even [GM Andrew Berry]. I hopped on Zoom meetings with AB, and he was just telling me how proud he was of my off-the-field work and how I was attacking my rehab. Everybody motivated me to keep going, so that kept me pushing.’'
The Trolls Attack
At the same time, Williams had to deal with fans and trolls on social media accusing him of faking the injury and not having the heart and desire to play the game.
“That was kind of one of those things was messing with me too,’' Williams said. “People don’t understand really what nerve damage is. It’s a serious matter for your health. Nerves are weird. They work on their own time, so you just never know.’'
[...]
The shoulder awakens
Around [Feb 13th] Williams felt his shoulder coming back to life. A new beginning in so many ways.
“When I was first able to just to reach across my body, and hold it by myself, it was just like a big shock to me and I was happy,’' he said. “I couldn’t wait to tell [the Browns medical staff] about the progression and how the shoulder was moving. It’s been it’s been a lot of excitement from there on out.’'
Williams arrived back in Cleveland on Monday and had a great checkup with the Browns medical staff that day. He estimates he’s about 60% of the way back, with five months to go before the start of training camp.
“The [doctors] said, ‘You know, we see it,’’' Williams said. “They were just like ‘keep working, keep going.’’'
The fateful EMG test
But the true test came Wednesday when he had to undergo the intimidating EMG test. Would the muscle fire? Would it finally respond? It did, and he felt the same exhilaration he did tossing the blue confetti in the air during the gender reveal.